Page images
PDF
EPUB

66

"And they shall afflict them four hundred years." Gen. xv. 13. Were not the Egyptians free agents in persecuting the Israelites? Or was the prophecy conditional? on what? Again, was Joseph's interpretation of the butler's and baker's dreams in Gen. xl. accidentally right? Or was Pharaoh not a free agent in restoring the one, and hanging the other? Again in 1 Kings, xiii. I-6, God sends a prophet to fortell, that a person not yet born, whom he names, would at some future time, burn men's bones upon a certain altar, and as a sign that the prophet was speaking by his authority, the altar is miraculously rent in two, and the ashes poured out.__Now without referring to the fulfilment of that prophecy in 2 Kings, xxiii, 15—18, we need only observe, that if God did not foreknow the acts of Josiah, he worked a miracle to make people think he did: if he did foreknow them-was Josiah not a free agent? In 2 Kings, viii. 12, Elisha says he knows the evil, that Hazael will do, when he becomes King of Syria. How could Elisha know it, unless God had told him? Was this then a conditional prophecy? Hazael would do it, if he did it! Ps. lxxii 11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." Will all these kings and nations then not be free agents? or is it conditional? They shall do so, if they will do so! Ps. cx. 3. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Here the very condition itself, their willingness, is the thing foretold. It must be selfevident to any one, that if God did not know, who would be willing, he could not possibly know, that any would. Is. xi. 9. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Now let me just ask Mr Barker, whether he can rest in unhesitating confidence on this promise, believing that such a period of blessedness will certainly arrive, because God has said it? He cannot do so, without admitting the foreknowledge of God; unless he contends, that the inhabitants of the earth at that time will not be free agents, responsible for their actions. In Is. xli. 23, xliv, 7, 8, xlv. 21, xlvi. 9—11, xlviii. 1-8. Jehovah challenges the Idols of the heathen to show themselves Gods by foretelling things to come; which he asserts his own power of doing, and on which he rests his claim to supreme Deity! Now only see what a dilemma this reduces Mr. Barker to! He acknowledges, that God foreknows "every thing that is certain"; but the moral actions of free agents, he contends, cannot be certain, and therefore God cannot foreknow them. This is as much as to say, that God foreknows earthquakes, volcanoes, wind, hail, rain, &c. but not one of the future movements of the human race, either individually or collectively-or any thing in short, over which man can exercise the slightest influence. And

64

then, in this utter ignorance of any thing that mankind will ever do or accomplish on this globe, Jehovah claims Divine honour as the only true God, on the ground of his absolute foreknowledge!! Indeed what are all the prophecies from Isaiah to Malachi, but one continued claim to foreknowledge? Just look, for instance, at the book of Daniel, especially the 11th chapter; and you will find foretold, not one event or twenty, but a long complicated chain of events, including wars, marriages, &c. &c all depending on the moral actions of free agents, and every one of which was literally and minutely fulfilled.

Having thus taken the Old Testament evidence on the subject, we now turn to the New, to see whether Jesus claimed foreknowledge of the moral actions of responsible beings. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed." Matt. xvi. 21. "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify him " Matt. xx. 18, 19. "And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me," &c, Matt. xxvi. 21-25. "Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." Matt. xxvi. 34. "For Jesus knew from the beginning, who they were that believed not, and who should betray him " John vi. 64. "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." John xvi. 2. For these things were done, that the Scriptures should be fulfilled, which said, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on him, whom they have pierced." John xix. 36, 37. 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God" John xxi. 18, 19. Were the crucifiers of Peter then not free agents? "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." ii 23. Here we have determination or predestination, foreknowledge and free agency all meeting in one event. God determined that Jesus should be crucified; he foreknew who would crucify him; and yet the crucifiers must have been free agents, or else they could not have been wicked for doing it. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be

[ocr errors]

66

Acts

conformed to the image of his Son " Rom viii. 29. See also Eph. i. 4-11. "God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew." Rom. xi. 2. "Flect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." 1 Pet. 1, 2.

It may seem almost a waste of time, after this, to say anything on the particular application of Mr Barker's theory to the person of Jesus Christ; namely, that God did not know, until he had tried him, whether he would answer the purpose of a Messiah, and consequently, that Jesus was never prophe sied of as an individual; especially as this is involved in both the two following subjects, the Miraculous Conception, and the Deity of Christ A few reflections however may be useful; in which we will endeavour not to trench on either of these points.

Now to bring forward all the particular prophecies concerning the Messiah, which met in so remarkable a manner in the person of Jesus Christ, would be quite unnecessary; we require nothing more than the general fact that a Messiah was promised by God to the world (which Mr. Barker admits); and it follows necessarily, that the Messiah must have been foreknown by God; for if God did not know who would be the Messiah, he could not possibly know, that there would be a Messiah at all. He might think it extremely probable, that among the millions of Adam's race, one would be found fit and willing to be the Saviour of the World; but if God does not foreknow the actions of free agents, he could not possibly know or be absolutely sure, that such a one would ever arise; unless indeed he had determined that, if no free agent would undertake the office, he would compel some one to undertake it against his will, Mr Barker contends, that God could not know whether Jesus would stand the test, until he had tried him; and suggests, that others may have been tried, and failed, before. Of course therefore it was quite possible, that Jesus himself might have failed; and then another would have to be tried; and if he failed, another and so on: in short every one might have failed, and there have been no Christ at all! Imagine the consternation of patriarchs and prophets in heaven, as centuries rolled on and no Saviour had appeared in the world; the multitude of promises and prophecies which they had always rested on as the sure word of God, still unfulfilled! And when they ask their heavenly Father about this seeming difficulty, he explains it by telling them, that all his prophecies, which depend on the future actions of free agents, must necessarily be conditional; that when he promised a Saviour to the world, the condition was of course implied-if he could find

* Of course I waive all questions here about the Atonement, &c. and argue on the ground, that any man good enough might answer the purpose of a Messiah.

one: that the promises were indeed expressed very positively, because, all men being born upright and innocent, it was extremely improbable that not one would reach the standard required; but so it was; every trial had proved a failure, and he was disappointed in them all!!!-Need I "go any farther in my suppositions"? Or will this be set aside as an appeal to human reason? Well then, listen to "the teaching of Christ" himself, as you find it in John xviii 37. "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." Surely this must be enough for any ordinary mind. St. Paul at least seems to have had no doubt on the subject; for he writes to Timothy, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. i. 15. And again to the Galations, ch. iv 4, “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." There was therefore a definite time fixed for the Messiah's appearance. And when we add to this, that he was to be born according to the prophecies at Bethlehem and of the family of David, and that our Saviour fulfilled all these requirements, we shall scarcely be able to agree with Mr. Barker, that Jesus was never prophesied of individually; but shall be perhaps more inclined to yield assent to the angel's saying, that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

But we need not multiply passages or proofs. The denial of God's Foreknowledge, especially when applied to the Christhood of Jesus, must appear at a glance so perfectly irrational to every reflecting mind, and so palpably unscriptural to every enlightened mind, that I should scarcely have thought it worth devoting a page to, but for the sake of showing the depths into which we may sink, if we are once shaken from the rock of eternal truth, and are tempted to set our feet upon the quicksands of error. Dear Friends, these quicksands are much easier got on, than got off. Don't try any dangerous experiments; take heed that you be not uttering the prayer of hypocrisy, when you say, Lead us not into temptation.

ERRATUM.

At page 86, line 6, for "Is this enough" read "Is not this enough."

LECTURE X.

THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.

God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Rom. viii. 3.

On reaching this subject the ground changes. For the words of scripture are so positive, that not only can there be no dispute about their meaning, but, what is a very different thing, there actually is none. I am not aware that any human being ever denied the fact of our Lord's conception by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary being taught in the two first chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke. The only question is, Are these chapters genuine? If they are, the point is decided. But this some Unitarians doubt, and others deny. Let us examine on what grounds. The question is a simple matter of evidence, and must be tried as you would any other historical fact. Amongst the learned, who have opportunities of examining the evidence for themselves, the controversy has been settled long ago; indeed, no one in the present day, whether Unitarian or not, who has enough learning to make him care about risking the reputation of it, would venture to dispute their genuineness.* But as I am not writing for such, I know not how I can give the unlearned a better idea of the merits of the question, than by supposing the following case. In the course of conversation with a stranger, I happen to mention the great victory gained by the English at the battle of Waterloo. S. Indeed you are very much mistaken: the English were completely routed in that battle. What could make you think the contrary ? 1. Why every newspaper in Europe said so. S. Very true; but they were all paid to say You don't think I am going to be duped by a set of

[ocr errors]

So.

* The Unitarian Lardner, one of the most learned critics that ever lived decides positively in their favour; and pronounces the evidence to be indisputable. So does Socinus himself.

H

« PreviousContinue »